Dawn of War III/Whirlwind
} | page = Dawn of War III/Whirlwind | name = Whirlwind | type = Vehicle | portrait = | icon = Whirlwind - DOWIII.png | race = Space Marines | role = Artillery tank | game = Dawn of War III }} Space Marines aren’t as numerous as the foes they face, so the risk of getting severely outnumbered on the battlefield is a very real one. Luckily, Whirlwinds are there to level the playing field. Equipped with a standard Rhino chassis, a Whirlwind Multiple Missile Launcher and a unique target acquisition system, this unit is designed to accurately fire on enemies from an extraordinary distance. Whirlwinds are less resilient than other tanks in the Space Marine army, but they more than make up for it with their range. Description *High ranged damage *Most effective at long range *Low health *Slow movement Abilities ;Missile Barrage The Whirlwind fires a barrage of missiles scattered over an area, dealing damage and knockback in the area of impact. Strategy The Whirlwind is designed for one thing and one thing only: obliterating a target area and leaving nothing but scorched earth behind. It has no standard attack; all of its damage comes from its triggered Missile Barrage ability, which has a decent cooldown rate. While the Eldar Fire Prism has skimmer mobility and the Ork Big Trak can handle close-range combat with its Kill Em Close mode, the Whirlwind is by far the best at artillery-style damage output. Instead of small AoE attacks with a delay between firing and the explosion which are relatively easy to see and avoid, the Missile Barrage gives little warning and covers a MASSIVE area in comparison with incredible burst damage. A single salvo will destroy most buildings if centered on them, and absolutely shatter squads. The Whirlwind’s unmatched range allows covering fire from far behind the main battlegroup. In many cases, the tank may be hidden in the fog of war up until the moment the mortar fire rains from the sky. Missile Barrage does have a minimum range, which means units close enough to the Whirlwind can avoid its deadly assault. If you can get close enough to an enemy Whirlwind, it won’t be able to retaliate. Though it’s risky to get close, Whirlwinds - like all vehicles in Dawn of War - take significant damage from behind. Sneaking up on an unsuspecting Whirlwind can save half of your army if you never give it a chance to fire. Note, the Missile Barrage briefly reveals the Whirlwind on the map and even Casual-grade AI opponents consider the Whirlwind to be a dangerous threat, and have been known to drop an Ultimate Ability like the Eldritch Storm on one after it has fired its barrage and have the ability follow the Whirlwind until it dies. There is a General Doctrine available that gives the Whirlwind very dangerous mobility: Thunderhawk Re-Deployment. The Whirlwind activates the ability and selects a scouted location. After about 4 seconds a Thunderhawk dropship picks up the Whirlwind, and then after about another 5 seconds deploys it at the target location. The kicker: IT HAS UNLIMITED RANGE. The Thunderhawk, being an orbital re-entry ship, can have a Whirlwind cross an entire map in seconds. The only limitation is that the target location has to be revealed by one of your units. This allows a Whirlwind to do a quick retreat back to your base or a small squad of them to abruptly show up and launch a catastrophic ambush against an enemy base revealed by one of your Scout Squads from clean across a map. This arguably makes the Whirlwind the most lethal of the Artillery units of the races; even the Dawn of War III/Fire Prism with its skimmer mobility can't be this lethal in equal numbers due to having drastically less firepower. Category:Dawn of War III units